I pride myself on being creative, so I decided to have a stab at keeping myself busy.
By DVORA WAYSMANMood: Shower bar(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
When the editor suggested this as my next article, I roared with laughter. Erica is known for her sense of humor. Me, who has been climbing the walls, thinking of taking to drink, or killing myself or others. But after all, I pride myself on being creative, so I decided to have a stab at it.I am very communal-minded, so I thought I should entertain the neighbors. I don’t play any instrument, but I know hundreds of songs dating back to the 1940s. In my imagination, I saw all the neighbors coming out to join in, sending their children to the street below, to dance – keeping their social distance, of course. Well, that’s not exactly what happened. After I began singing (I chose my favorite aria from Madam Butterfly – “One Fine Day”), what I heard was doors suddenly being closed with great force and windows being slammed down. But I persevered, until all the birds in the trees outside my balcony, decided to migrate early this year and flew off to Australia or Siberia (whichever was the furthest), and even the cats that hang around our building also disappeared.I next decided I could keep busy by tidying up my office. I know I have a very nice writing desk. I haven’t actually seen it for a few years because my printer sits on it, plus several piles of ideas for articles and stories that I intend to use one day. I decided to be ruthless and get rid of them, but then I thought I should read them first, after which I decided maybe to keep them for happier times. At least that kept me busy for a couple of hours.By then it was lunchtime, and I decided to use my creativity to prepare a gourmet meal for my husband from the ingredients I could find (after not having gone shopping for about five weeks). I put things on the kitchen counter and looked at them: one sad-looking turnip, some potatoes, three packets of desiccated coconut (where did they come from?), a tin of chickpeas and a packet of potato flour left over from Passover. It’s very strange – every year I have a packet of potato flour left over. I never use it, have no idea what to do with it, and yet every year I insist it be part of my Passover order. This really taxed my imagination, especially as the last few days my husband has been giving me looks that say, “You don’t really expect me to eat this!”But I haven’t done violence to him yet, which is a tribute to my self-restraint. Oh, I’ve thought about it, and I think a good lawyer could get me acquitted if I did – I’m sure there’s something called “justifiable homicide.”I did the laundry, and then made the mistake of looking in the mirror. My hair hasn’t had the tender ministrations of a hairdresser for more than a month. I’m reminded of that song “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.” I now have a fringe (or “bangs” as I think Americans say) and a strange triangle of hair that sticks out on the side. It is very depressing, but if I put on my face mask and use the elastic to push it away, it doesn’t look too bad. In fact, when I wear the face mask, I look quite good.So I am keeping busy under lockdown after all. I hope people will be inspired by my initiative. I would like to say that I keep a balanced diet (a block of dark chocolate in one hand, and a block of milk chocolate in the other) but I don’t actually have any chocolate. I liked the story of the doctor who told his elderly patient that it would be a good idea for her to put a bar in her shower, and she did – with bottles of whiskey, brandy, wine and vodka. I can’t do it though because my soap holder won’t actually support even a bottle of wine.So I hope I’ve given the readers some ideas of how to keep busy under lockdown. It’s just a matter of initiative and creativity, and the time will pass constructively.Meanwhile, I wish everyone good health until this traumatic time comes to an end.The writer, who has lived in Jerusalem for 48 years, is the author of 14 books. Her latest novel is Searching for Sarah.dwaysman@gmail.com
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